A Supplier Selection Model for a Wholesaler and Retailer Company Based on FITradeoff Multicriteria Method

Abstract

The problem approached is regarding supplier selection in a wholesaler and retailer of the construction sector. The current approach used in the company analyzed for the supplier selection problem is unable to evaluate the many issues that the company considers must be addressed. Thus, the Flexible and Interactive Tradeoff (FITradeoff) ranking method was chosen to deal with this problem. It seeks to elicit criteria weights in a decision problem, using partial information about the decision maker's (DM’s) preferences in order to choose the most attractive alternative, based on the ranking of the suppliers provided. Based on the Hasse diagram developed when applying the method, the DM makes some observations regarding the suppliers' positions in the ranking. Bar graphics and radar graphics were also used and these enable the DM to evaluate each supplier better. It was perceived that the method is applicable and well accepted by the DM. The graphic part helps the DM in understanding the analysis of the problem, offering no barriers to proceed with the tradeoff. Thus, for this situation of selecting a supplier in a wholesaler and retailer of the construction sector, the DM felt comfortable with the proposed approach using the FITradeoff multicriteria ranking method and with the results presented, and the proposed approach is shown to be adequate.